Isaiah 33
1 Woe, spoiler! and thou not spoiled, And treacherous! and they dealt not treacherously with thee, When thou dost finish, O spoiler, thou art spoiled, When thou dost finish dealing treacherously, They deal treacherously with thee.
Tragedy is coming to you, you destroyer who has not experienced destruction yourself, you deceiver who has not experienced deception yourself! When you have finished with your destroying, you will be destroyed yourself. Then you are finished with your deceiving, you will be deceived yourselves.
2 O Jehovah, favour us, for thee we have waited, Be their arm, in the mornings, Yea, our salvation in time of adversity.
Lord, please be kind to us; we put our confidence in you. Be the strength we rely on every morning; be our salvation in times of trouble.
3 From the voice of a multitude fled have peoples, From thine exaltation scattered have been nations.
When you roar, the peoples run away; when you prepare for action, the nations scatter!
4 And gathered hath been your spoil, A gathering of the caterpillar, As a running to and fro of locusts is he running on it.
You plunder defeated enemy armies like caterpillars eating up plants; like an attack of swarming locusts.
5 Set on high is Jehovah, for He is dwelling on high, He filled Zion [with] judgment and righteousness,
The Lord is praised for he lives in highest heaven; he has filled Zion with justice and right.
6 And hath been the stedfastness of thy times, The strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, Fear of Jehovah — it [is] His treasure.
He will be your constant support throughout your lives an abundant source of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. Reverence for the Lord is what makes Zion rich.
7 Lo, 'Their Ariel,' they have cried without, Messengers of peace do weep bitterly.
But look! Even your bravest soldiers are crying loudly in the street; the messengers you sent to ask for peace are weeping bitterly.
8 Desolated have been highways, Ceased hath he who passeth along the path, He hath broken covenant, He hath despised enemies, He hath not esteemed a man.
Your highways are deserted; nobody's traveling on your roads anymore. He breaks the treaty; he despises the witnesses; he doesn't care about anybody.
9 Mourned, languished hath the land, Confounded hath been Lebanon, Withered hath been Sharon as a wilderness, And shaking are Bashan and Carmel.
Israel is in mourning and fades away; Lebanon withers in shame; the fields of Sharon have become a desert; the forests of Bashan and Carmel have shed their leaves.
10 Now, do I arise, saith Jehovah, Now I am exalted, now I am lifted up.
“But now I'm going to intervene!” says the Lord. “I'm prepared to act! I will show myself to be above all others!
11 Ye conceive chaff, ye bear stubble, Your spirit! — fire devoureth you.
All you give birth to is only dry grass, all you deliver is just stubble. Your breath is a fire that will burn you up.
12 And peoples have been [as] burnings of lime, Thorns, as sweepings, with fire they burn.
You people will be burned to ashes like thorns that are cut down and thrown into the fire.
13 Hear, ye far off, that which I have done, And know, ye near ones, My might.
Those of you who are far away, recognize what I have accomplished; those of you who are nearby, recognize how powerful I am.”
14 Afraid in Zion have been sinners, Seized hath trembling the profane: Who doth dwell for us — consuming fire, Who doth dwell for us — burnings of the age?
The sinners who live in Zion tremble with fear; those who are irreligious are overcome with terror. They ask, “Who can live with this fire that consumes everything? Who can live among such everlasting burning?”
15 Whoso is walking righteously, And is speaking uprightly, Kicking against gain of oppressions, Shaking his hands from taking hold on a bribe, Stopping his ear from hearing of blood, And shutting his eyes from looking on evil,
Those who live right and speak the truth, those who refuse to profit from extortion and refuse to take bribes, who don't listen to plots to kill people, who close their eyes rather than look at evil.
16 He high places doth inhabit, Strongholds of rock [are] his high tower, His bread hath been given, his waters stedfast.
They will live on high; they will be protected by the mountain fortresses; they will always be provided with food and will always have water.
17 A king in his beauty, see do thine eyes, They see a land afar off.
You will see the king in his wonderful appearance, and you will view a land that stretches into the distance.
18 Thy heart doth meditate terror, Where [is] he who is counting? Where [is] he who is weighing? Where [is] he who is counting the towers?
In your mind you will think about the terrifying things that were expected, and then ask yourself, “Where are the enemy officials—the scribes who were to record events, the treasurers who were to weigh the looted money, the surveyors who were to count and destroy the towers?”
19 The strong people thou seest not, A people deeper of lip than to be understood, Of a scorned tongue, there is no understanding.
You won't see these offensive people anymore with their barbaric language that sounds like someone stammering and is impossible to understand.
20 See Zion, the city of our meetings, Thine eyes see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, A tent not taken down, Not removed are its pins for ever, And none of its cords are broken.
On the contrary, you'll see Zion as a festival city. You will view Jerusalem as a quiet and peaceful place. It will be like a tent that's never taken down, whose tent-pegs are never pulled up, whose guy ropes never snap.
21 But there mighty [is] Jehovah for us, A place of rivers — streams broad of sides, No ship with oars doth go into it, And a mighty ship doth not pass over it.
Right here our majestic Lord will be like a place of broad rivers and waters that no enemy ship with oars can cross—no great ship can pass.
22 For Jehovah our judge, Jehovah our lawgiver, Jehovah our king — He doth save us.
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king. He is the one who will save us.
23 Left have been thy ropes, They strengthen not rightly their mast, They have not spread out a sail, Then apportioned hath been a prey of much spoil, The lame have taken spoil.
The rigging on your ship hangs loose so the mast isn't secure and the sail can't be spread. Then all the looted treasure you're carrying will be divided among the victors—even those who are lame will have their share.
24 Nor doth an inhabitant say, 'I was sick,' The people that is dwelling in it, is forgiven of iniquity!
Nobody in Israel will say, “I'm sick,” and those who live there will have their guilt removed.
